Google has announced a plethora of feature additions and improvements for Google+ and, specifically, the Google+ app for Android which includes things like being able to have Hangout video chats on the go, group message with photos and more. Also, Google+ is now open for all.
The news comes straight from Google Mobile Blog where official updates from the Google Mobile team are published. The post published today talked about some of the new features/improvements made to Google+.
Punit Soni from the Google+ Mobile team states that over hundred new features have been added to Google+ since launch, with the hundredth feature being open signups. You can head over to plus.google.com and sign up from there; no invite needed!
From Google Mobile Blog:
We started the Google+ project to help make online sharing more like real-world sharing. Of course, in life we increasingly share on the go, so over the past ~90 days we’ve developed Google+ apps for Android, iOS and the mobile web.
During this time we’ve made lots of improvements to the project, and in fact, the team just announced its 100th new feature overall (open signups). But our work is far from done, and today we’re bringing seven additional Google+ features to your mobile device.
One of the most major features announced today is that Hangouts – Google+’s awesome video chat feature – is now available on Android smartphone which are on 2.3 or above and have front-facing cameras. Besides this, Hangouts on Google+’s desktop website is now integrated with Google Docs, SketchUp and also users to share screens. Hangouts is one of the strongest features of + and its support for mobile devices makes it all the more compelling.
Users in the United States and, interestingly, India can now post to Google+, receive notifications and group messages via text (more countries will be supported later on) after enabling them from settings.
Besides this, other small little features like being able to edit profile photos, customize notifications and being able to move Google+ app to the SD card have been added to make the overall experience smoother.
Lastly, +Huddles – Google+’s messaging system – has been renamed to Messenger and allows users to upload photos to send to each group/circle.
Google+’s new features are great and everything, but what use are they if there aren’t any people to use them with? That, I believe, is the biggest issue facing + at the moment.
Getting people to move from Facebook to Google+ won’t be an easy task since everyone is used to it. Besides this, after + reached “closed beta” stage, Facebook added a number of features which made + lose its charm: video chat, updates to Messenger, Subscriptions, more powerful @mentions, ability to change privacy settings on the fly etc.
The updated Google+ app can be downloaded from the link below.
Download Google+ for Android [Market Link]
Be sure to check out our Android Apps gallery to explore more apps for your Android device.
You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web!
